Chili with Chorizo

Winter is just around the corner and I find myself craving stuff like chili, stew and soup. Went I came to the blog looking for my chili, I was surprised to find that I didn't have a straight up recipe for my regular chili. I found a great recipe for Red Chili Pork and Beans, Lentil Chili, and a Chili Chicken Soup but no simple, meaty chili. I was sure that I had posted it at some point and after a search, I found it on No reEats, the blog that documented my year of never repeating a recipe. To be honest, that year was such a blur of stress and mental anguish, that I think I have blocked most of the meals from my memory in order to protect my fragile psyche.

I made a batch of this stuff over the weekend and realized that I had to share it with you guys because it's too good to keep to myself. This fills my 5 quart heavy pot or my 5 quart crock pot. It freezes beautifully by the way.

Heat the olive oil in a large, heavy pot over med heat. Add the onion and garlic and sauté for a few minutes before adding the meats. Brown the meat until all the pink is gone. Add the cumin, chili powder, and a pinch of salt and sauté for a couple of minutes. Add the beer, the stock, the beans, tomato puree and oregano. Stir well and bring to a light simmer, cover partially with the lid and let it cook like that for an hour. Taste after an hour and adjust seasonings if you need to, add more salt if it needs it. Keep cooking it until it has reduced to the consistency that you like at this point. We like our chill pretty thick so I usually have to cook it for another 45 minutes or an hour.

*to cook in a slow cooker, saute the onion, garlic and the meats through to the adding of the spices and then scrape the meat/spice mixture into your slow cooker, add the beer, the stock, beans, tomato puree and oregano and cook it for 6-8 hours on low.

We all eat it differently so I serve all of the condiments on the side - Shack likes it with sour cream and cheddar, I like a bit of cheddar, cilantro and a squeeze of lime and The Kid likes it naked. We all like to eat it with some tortilla chips